Sunday, May 25, 2014

The 2014 Meat Atlas

I encourage you to take a look at the Meat Atlas published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Friends of the Earth. The graphics are amazing but the data they depict are even more incredible.

The authors have an obvious bias to their underlying message, which is fine; they don't try to hide it or pretend their message is something it is not. But they are still able to present a rather clear-eyed review of global meat production and consumption data, a review that the industry itself does not seem able to prepare. They avoid hand-wringing and shrillness. 

It doesn't matter whether you never eat meat or eat it daily. In fact, it doesn't even matter what commodity we are talking about; we are citizens in a global economy, enjoying its many benefits such as cheap energy, food that is available year-round regardless of season, consumer goods that are true black boxes to the majority of users, while ignoring its many problems, such as misuse and pollution of land and water resources and food that is no longer produced locally, creating a chasm-scale disconnect between supplier and consumer. Don't get me started about black boxes.

Take a look at the Meat Atlas. I know that you will learn something new there.

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